新托福插入题命中百分百

 　　在新托福阅读的考查中，每篇文章必会出现一类题，叫做"Insert Text Questions"，即插入句子题(简称插入题)。考试中，考生会遇到一句话，问该句插入文中哪里最合适。如下面例题：

　　The raising of livestock¹ is a major economic activity in semiarid² lands, where grasses are general the dominant³ type of natural vegetation. The consequences of an excessive number of livestock grazing in an area are the reduction of the vegetation cover and the trampling⁴ and pulverization⁵ of the soil.This is usually followed by the drying of the soil and accelerated erosion.

　　Look at the four squares that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage。

　　This economic reliance on livestock in certain regions makes large tracts⁶ of land susceptible⁷ to overgrazing。

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　(选自Official Guide P73)

　　按照ETS官方指南上的解析，这类题型重点考查英文句子间的逻辑语义关系，即英文中句子与句子是如何衔接在一起的。所以，只要掌握了英语句子间的衔接手法(cohesive devices)，这种问题便可迎刃而解。

　　那么，英文句子有哪些衔接手法呢？

　　主要分为以下四种。

　　1.?代词(Pronouns)

　　具体包括人称代词、指示代词和关系代词等(personal, demonstrative, relative, etc)。在上下句的关联中，代词是最为紧密的一类词。当作者再次谈及上句相关话题时，为了避免重复，遵循语言学的最简单化原理，作者会用代词指代该话题词。例如，Speaking a foreign language is an enormous asset in the modern world. This is why so many junior high schools are now offering language classes。

　　Today's teachers are faced with a stark⁸ choice. They must decide whether to teach in a way that helps student pass standardized⁹ exams or teach in a way that actually helps students learn。

　　2.?定冠词the + 名词(specific articles+nouns)名词所指对象第一次出现时，用不定冠词a连接，当后句再次提及该名词对象时，为了表示它和前一句名词是同一关系，会用定冠词the引出。例如，A woman is walking into our classroom. The woman is our teacher。

　　3.?重复话题词或同义近义改写(Repetition, synonym¹⁰, or slight variation of a word)上下句的衔接也可以通过重复话题词实现，或者是对该话题词进行相关改写。例如，To foster healthy relationships between children in a classroom, teachers should provide time for games and fun activities. Having healthy relationships with their peers helps children gain confidence useful in other parts of their lives. (重复话题词)Before choosing a public or private school for their children, parents should take into account the cost. The price of a private school is usually much higher than that of a public school. (话题词同义改写)4.?过渡性词和词组(Transitional phrases/transitional adverbs)上面讲到的三种句间关系属于隐性关系。隐性关系通过上下句的语义关系体现。现在，我们要讲的是句子间的显性关系，即通过明显的逻辑连词或副词来体现句间关系。这些显性关系词包括以下类别。

　　4.1?时间关系

　　then, next, later, finally, etc。

　　4.2?因果关系

　　therefore, consequently, as a result, etc。

　　4.3?转折关系

　　however, but, yet, nevertheless, on the other hand, etc。

　　4.4?解释关系

　　that is, in other words, etc。

　　4.5?举例关系

　　for instance, for example

　　例如，Peers and older siblings¹¹ have a major influence on how school children behave. For instance, young children often repeat bad words they hear from their friends or brothers and sisters。

　　有了上面的理论铺垫，我们再来看小插题就容易得多了！

　　例如，前面给出的那道例题，

　　The raising of livestock is a major economic activity in semiarid lands, where grasses are general the dominant type of natural vegetation. The consequences of an excessive number of livestock grazing in an area are the reduction of the vegetation cover and the trampling and pulverization of the soil.This is usually followed by the drying of the soil and accelerated erosion.

　　Look at the four squares  that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage。

　　This economic reliance on livestock in certain regions makes large tracts of land susceptible to overgrazing。

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　我们先读给出的这句话--This economic reliance on livestock in certain regions makes large tracts of land susceptible to overgrazing. 这个句子使用的衔接手法(cohesive device)属于代词指代前文话题词。this后面的名词economic reliance on livestock一定在上一句里出现。于是，搜索段落，答案锁定在第二个方框前的那一句The raising of livestock is a major economic activity in semiarid lands, where grasses are general the dominant type of natural vegetation。这句话与被插入的句子话题一致，都是在讲"经济上依赖牲口"这件事，所以应插入第二个方框。

　　同理，以下考题，请考生自测。答案见文末。

　　Extinct but already fully¹² marine¹³ cetaceans are known from the fossil record. ▇How was the gap between a walking mammal and a swimming whale bridged? ▇Missing until recently were fossils clearly intermediate, or transitional, between land mammals and cetaceans。

　　▇Very exciting discoveries have finally allowed scientists to reconstruct the most likely origins of cetaceans. ▇ In 1979, a team looking for fossils in northern Pakistan found what proved to be the oldest fossils whale。

　　Look at the four squares ▇ that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage。

　　This is a question that has puzzled scientists for ages。

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　(选自Official Guide P64)

　　Paragraph 3: ■Exhibitors, however, wanted to maximize their profits, which they could do more readily by projecting a handful of films to hundreds of customers at a time (rather than one at a time) and by charging 25 to 50 cents admission. ■About a year after the opening of the first Kinetoscope parlor¹⁴ in 1894, showmen such as Louis and Auguste Lumiere, Thomas Armat and Charles Francis Jenkins, and Orville and Woodville Latham (with the assistance of Edison's former assistant, William Dickson) perfected projection¹⁵ devices. ■These early projection devices were used in vaudeville¹⁶ theaters, legitimate¹⁷ theaters, local town halls, makeshift storefront theaters, fairgrounds, and amusement parks to show films to a mass audience.■Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage。

　　When this widespread use of projection technology began to hurt his Kinetoscope business, Edison acquired a projector¹⁸ developed by Armat and introduced it as "Edison's latest marvel¹⁹, the Vitascope."Where would the sentence best fit?

　　(选自Official Guide P84)

　　Before 1815 manufacturing in the United States had been done in homes or shops by skilled artisans. As master craft workers, they imparted the knowledge of their trades to apprentices²⁰ and journeymen. In addition, women often worked in their homes part-time, making finished articles from raw material supplied by merchant capitalists. After 181 5 this older form of manufacturing began to give way to factories with machinery²¹ tended by unskilled or semiskilled laborers²². Cheap transportation networks, the rise of cities, and the availability of capital and credit all stimulated²³ the shift to factory production。

　　Look at the four squares  that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage。

　　This new form of manufacturing depended on the movement of goods to distant locations and a centralized source of laborers。

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　(选自Official Guide P105)

　　Paragraph 6: Because they are always swimming, tunas simply have to open their mouths and water is forced in and over their gills. Accordingly, they have lost most of the muscles that other fishes use to suck in water and push it past the gills. In fact, tunas must swim to breathe. They must also keep swimming to keep from sinking, since most have largely or completely lost the swim bladder, the gas-filled sac that helps most other fish remain buoyant。

　　11. Look at the four squares  that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage。

　　Consequently, tunas do not need to suck in water。

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　参考答案：2B，4D，4D，2B

 

1 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

2 semiarid   

adj.雨量非常少的，半干旱的

参考例句：

• The region is semiarid to arid in overall climate.这个地区总体上是半干旱至干旱气候。
• In many semiarid areas there is also a lower timberline where the forest passes into steppe or desert at its lower edge,usually because of a lack of moisture.在很多半干旱地带也有下层的树带界限，在这种环境中，由于缺乏水分，森林下缘逐渐变成干草原或者是沙漠。

3 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

4 trampling   

踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• Diplomats denounced the leaders for trampling their citizens' civil rights. 外交官谴责这些领导人践踏其公民的公民权。
• They don't want people trampling the grass, pitching tents or building fires. 他们不希望人们踩踏草坪、支帐篷或生火。

5 pulverization   

n.弄成粉，粉碎；粉化

参考例句：

• Do photosensitive pulverization to beauty parlour, establish lever to see a movie. 到美容院做光敏雾化，立杆见影。 来自互联网
• Cryogenic pulverization system uses it to Seperate and collect powder. 低温粉碎系统应用它分离粉体并起集粉作用。 来自互联网

6 tracts   

大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文

参考例句：

• vast tracts of forest 大片大片的森林
• There are tracts of desert in Australia. 澳大利亚有大片沙漠。

7 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

8 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

9 standardized   

adj.标准化的

参考例句：

• We use standardized tests to measure scholastic achievement. 我们用标准化考试来衡量学生的学业成绩。
• The parts of an automobile are standardized. 汽车零件是标准化了的。

10 synonym   

n.同义词，换喻词

参考例句：

• Zhuge Liang is a synonym for wisdom in folklore.诸葛亮在民间传说中成了智慧的代名词。
• The term 'industrial democracy' is often used as a synonym for worker participation. “工业民主”这个词常被用作“工人参与”的同义词。

11 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

12 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

13 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

14 parlor   

n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅

参考例句：

• She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
• Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店？

15 projection   

n.发射，计划，突出部分

参考例句：

• Projection takes place with a minimum of awareness or conscious control.投射在最少的知觉或意识控制下发生。
• The projection of increases in number of house-holds is correct.对户数增加的推算是正确的。

16 vaudeville   

n.歌舞杂耍表演

参考例句：

• The standard length of a vaudeville act was 12 minutes.一个杂耍节目的标准长度是12分钟。
• The mayor talk like a vaudeville comedian in his public address.在公共演讲中，这位市长讲起话来像个歌舞杂耍演员。

17 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

18 projector   

n.投影机，放映机，幻灯机

参考例句：

• There is a new projector in my office.我的办公室里有一架新的幻灯机。
• How long will it take to set up the projector?把这个放映机安放好需要多长时间？

19 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

20 apprentices   

学徒，徒弟( apprentice的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were mere apprentices to piracy. 他们干海盗仅仅是嫩角儿。
• He has two good apprentices working with him. 他身边有两个好徒弟。

21 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

22 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

23 stimulated   

a.刺激的

参考例句：

• The exhibition has stimulated interest in her work. 展览增进了人们对她作品的兴趣。
• The award has stimulated her into working still harder. 奖金促使她更加努力地工作。